Death at Depth
by Target22
Summary: The Red Lion set out four months ago to retrieve Triforce fragments for Queen Zelda. Link and his crew were just about to recover the final piece when the dive goes wrong. Link now finds himself at the mercy of a different queen, the Pirate Queen Tetra. He will have to find a way to prove himself useful, or die in the depths of the sea.
1. Chapter 1

**I've been in the Navy for 6 years and thought I'd use my favorite fandom to tell some stories you've never heard.**

* * *

The Red Lion heaved and surged against the oncoming waves. Link reveled at the sensation of becoming weightless then absurdly heavy as the painted deck of the ship moved beneath him. It reminded him of galloping through emerald fields with Epona. She and he moved as if they were one body, Link adjusting his position in the stirrups to impede his mare as little as possible. To stay comfortable on the deck, Link found himself flexing his knees in a similar manner. Not that he could interrupt the Red Lion as she went over and through the rolling waves.

"Link!"

Link turned his head as much as his blue suit would allow him. Solomon was a few feet away, clutching a line in his left hand, wearing an unfathomably grumpy scowl. The sailor spent most of his life at sea, almost always frowning in indignation.

"Yes?" Link called. He'd have cupped his hands over his mouth but the suit restricted movement until it was immersed. The spray from the waves wasn't quite enough to hydrate its skin.

"Yer smiling like an idiot again!" Solomon shouted. "Knock it off!"

The command made Link smile all the more.

"Aye-aye Chief!"

The grizzled sailor shook his head and muttered swear words under his breath. Link chuckled and allowed his suit to return his head to the forward position. His gruffness aside, Link really liked Chief Solomon. The man worked hard and held himself to a higher standard than the men under him. He was an expert sailor, navigator, and swordsman, and had been with the Red Lion longer than anyone else.

As the ship's Master-at-Arms, it was his duty to enforce the Captain's rule and report misbehavior. While he excelled at enforcing rules (usually with balled fists and calloused knuckles), he rarely reported misbehavior. If misconduct was reported to the Captain, the offending sailor was almost guaranteed a pay cut and demotion. Chief Solomon, when accused of dereliction of duty for failing to report a misdemeanor, explained that the wives and children of sailors were depending on their salary, and that a busted lip or broken nose was as efficient a corrective measure as anything. At first, Link mistook the man's intentions as an unhealthy appetite for violence. But after sailing with him for four months, he knew the man loved his crew more than he'd loved any of his three ex-wives.

"Why were you smiling?" asked the deep smooth voice of Yuuto. Yuuto had a way of whispering and yet being heard regardless of the environment. Whether it was a crowded bar fight or the gales of Hylia, if Yuuto spoke, he was heard.

Link didn't bother trying to turn his head. As his tender, Yuuto was posted just behind him and to his right, one hand carrying some of the weight of the air-flask strapped to Link's back.

"The ship riding the sea," Link replied, raising his voice to be sure he was heard. "It reminds me of my old horse."

He heard Yuuto hum behind him. "That is comforting," he said softly. "But deceptive."

"How so?"

"A horse is a companion who reciprocates love. The sea has no love for us. No mercy."

A chill went down Link's spine. Yuuto was always overly serious but rarely wrong. Yuuto, a native of Hylian island, Sakishima, was the most proficient diver aboard the Red Lion, and Link's most trusted comrade. If it weren't for an untimely ear infection, Yuuto would be in the blue suit and Link would be tending.

The islander was the same height as Link, but twenty pounds lighter. He had sharp features, sun-kissed skin, jet black hair, and hazel eyes. Despite his thin frame, Yuuto would never be accused of being the weak one in the group. The muscles in his forearms were corded and the ones in his shoulders and chest looked chiseled. Link couldn't put his finger on it exactly, but Yuuto also seemed to walk on the balls of his feet with a slight forward hunch as if he were eternally prepared to lunge forward and attack. Sometimes he saw Yuuto practicing with a knife, but in four months he'd never seen Yuuto instigate a fight, leaving Link to wonder if his imagination was getting the best of him and Yuuto simply had poor posture.

"You think we're nearing the spot?" Link asked to change the subject.

As if in response, Captain Matthew Rooster stuck his head over the bridge's railing. The faint glow of his magic compass helped illuminate his face against the dark clouds hanging over the Red Lion's mast.

"We're here!" he called, his excitement painting his face a brighter color than the compass. Captain Rooster was something of a rarity. He was half Gerudo, and his dark skin and red hair gave him away immediately. It wasn't the half Gerudo part that made him a rarity though, Link had served with half Gerudos in the Hylian Army. As far as Link knew, Captain Rooster was the only half Gerudo to stray from land and venture to the sea. Even more impressive, he earned the rank of Captain and was their commander for this expedition.

"Lieutenant Kilbert, get your man in there and bring us the last of piece of that Triforce!"

Link and Yuuto didn't wait for their Dive Supervisor's commands. Careful not to trip over the fins attached to his feet, Link awkwardly waddled over to the side of the ship. Yuuto was instep behind him, one hand on the air flask and the other on Link's safety line, an impossibly long rope that would be the only thing connecting Link to the Red Lion.

Link peered down into the spray. Dark waves danced beneath him, daring him to step into their domain. Yuuto was right, there was no love for him in there.

Link steeled away his fears. "Diver requests permission to enter the water!" he shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Enter the water, diver!" Lieutenant Kilbert commanded.

"Good luck," Yuuto whispered.

Link looked down to his left.

Down to his right.

Straight down.

Then out at the horizon.

The sun would be setting soon, not that the sky felt it necessary to show them. Dark clouds met the ocean where there should have been orange light. It was a bad evening for a dive, but a good evening to finish their mission.

Link secured his goggles to his face with one hand and reached back to hold the back of his air flask with the other. He counted to three in his head then stepped forward with his left foot.

The waterline was twelve feet from the deck of the Red Lion. Despite himself, Link tensed as he plunged through the air and into the water.

The blue suit, a very unique piece of equipment worn almost exclusively by divers in Hyrule's Navy, was considered cutting edge technology. Attached to the diver's back was a long cylindrical container called an "air flask". The air flask held pressurized oxygen and sponges soaked in Sodium Hydroxide, allowing the diver to continue breathing underwater for an absurdly long time. Attached to the air flask were two hoses that wrapped around the diver like a necklace. In the center of the "necklace" was an opening that the diver put over their mouth. Through this opening the diver could breath without producing any bubbles. Not drowning was also an intended feature. A one-piece suit, always colored blue to camouflage the diver, was worn over the tank and diver. The suits had built in fins and webbed gloves and were designed to be buoyant enough to counter the air flask's weight. Allegedly, blue suits were temperature controlled but, as Link found his body shocked by the frigid cold of the ocean, he doubted that claim.

His heart and lungs seized in his chest as the suddenness of the cold attacked his body. Quickly, so as to prevent himself from going into shock, Link kicked upward. His cowled head broke the surface and he shook the sea from the outside of his goggles. The Red Lion had drifted past him a few lengths but Lieutenant Kilbert and Yuuto were illuminated on the aft end.

Kicking doubly to free his arms from treading water, Link made an "O" with his arms over his head to signal he had entered the water okay. He could see Yuuto and Kilbert straining to see him over the waves, but when they did, they returned the signal. Kilbert then put one hand in front of him. Link couldn't see the two fingers that signaled "go to work" but he was confident they were there.

Link lifted the hose to his mouth and bit into the mouth piece on the inside. Once he was sure the hose was sealed around his lips he reached back through the hole between his hood and his "dorsal fin" and turned the valve that would allow him to breathe. Pressurized air hissed through the hose. He took a deep breath to "taste" the air, as he'd been trained. It was dry and metallic but filled his lungs easily.

 _Air pressure is sufficient,_ he thought to himself. Wasting no more time on the surface, Link turned himself upside down and dove into the depths. Darkness greeted him on all sides.

As a child, Link never imagined he would walk on the ocean floor in search of powerful magical artifacts. He was an orphaned ranch-hand from Ordon Village with few prospects other than his health and youth. He was raised with minimal formal education and even less wealth. Illia claimed she would have been happy being married to a ranch-hand but Link doubted it. He'd loved her as much as a sixteen-year-old could, and wanted nothing but the best for her. For him, joining the Royal Army made perfect sense. Rusl had taught him rudimentary swordplay, and Link was naturally gifted with animals, so it made sense for him to enlist and join the Royal Army's Light Cavalry Unit. He'd spent hours trying to console Illia, to convince her that there was no real danger. Hyrule had been at peace for half a century.

"But it can't last forever," she'd tried to warn him.

Sometimes he wondered if "I told you so" was her last thought.

Pressure in his ears pulled Link from his thoughts. He was descending at a good pace, and had probably reached 10 meters or 30 feet. He kept one hand ahead of him to feel through the darkness while he pinched his nose with the other one. He clenched his mouth shut then gently blew air. With his mouth sealed and nose plugged, the air traveled through the eustachian tubes in his ears and pressed against the inside of his eardrums, countering the pressure of the ocean. The discomfort subsided and Link returned to diving down with both hands in front of him.

This was the reason Yuuto wasn't diving right now. With an ear-infection, it could be very difficult to valsalva, or equalize the body's inner pressure with the increased pressure of diving. Depending on the ocean's depth, he may need to valsalva five or six more times.

Remembering that the Red Lion was probably having trouble staying in one spot, and that he was still tethered to the ship, Link increased the pace of his descent. He continued to feel his way and look around but he knew there wouldn't be anything to see until he got close to the Triforce fragment. Even 1,000 meters or 3,000 feet below the sea, the Triforce's glow could penetrate through the darkness.

The glowing of the magical artifact was one of the only reasons their mission was possible. But it had an unfortunate side effect. As Link had learned on his first dive, all manner of sea life was attracted to the warm glow of the Goddesses' magic. Yuuto claimed to be able to grab the pieces without disturbing the ecosystem, but Link wasn't sure that was possible. Of the twelve pieces they'd retrieved, Yuuto collected eight, and Link four. All four dives involved giant eels, sharks, and oddly aggressive crabs. The blue suit provided a surprising amount of protection from teeth and claws, but Link would rather trust the sharpened steel he kept attached to his left leg.

The blade of his dive knife was the same length as his forearm, and sharp as any sword he'd carried in the army. Unlike his sword, the hilt of his knife was covered in sharkskin, an ironic material that kept him from losing his grip while stabbing sharks. Sometimes he dove with a spear, but more times than not the tool would get in his way during the retrieval.

Link cleared his ears four more times before he finally noticed a patch of paleness in the otherwise impenetrable darkness. Link marveled at his good fortune, but still cautiously slowed his descent. Usually he reached the ocean floor and spent nearly and hour walking in an extending spiral pattern before he noticed the glow of the Triforce. Regardless of his good fortune, Link was loathe to rush forward into the jaws of whatever denizen awaited him.

Swinging his arm backward and behind him, Link grabbed the line that had descended with him. It wasn't taut, which meant he still had time before the Red Lion strayed too far. Hopefully Captain Matthew Rooster circled around to where they'd dropped Link off but given the sea-state, Link doubted that. He had maybe 30 more minutes before he had to begin his ascent or risk untethering himself.

Link reached down to his leg and unsheathed his knife. He gave the handle a squeeze for confidence then thrusted through the water a couple times to wake up his arm. With the help of the blue suit, he'd adjusted to the cold quickly but his shoulders were still a little stiff.

 _Here goes,_ he thought.

Point of his knife leading the way, Link continued his descent. The paleness became brighter and brighter until the illumination made the coral reef and ocean floor visible. Color was still difficult to distinguish at this depth but Link was able to navigate a clear path. Everything that grew at this depth was sharp and jagged. The last thing he wanted was to cut himself and season the water with his blood.

On shallower dives, the ocean floor was a thing of beauty. The vegetation and sea life danced in vibrant colors, and the gentle currents of the ocean carved designs in the sand. At this depth, everything looked still and menacing. Nothing soft or colorful could survive this deep. After all, the ocean lacked love and mercy.

This fragment was not the largest piece Link had retrieved, but it certainly wasn't the smallest. The holy artifact was wedged between two curved boulders, glowing defiantly as if it was demanding to be rescued. On the surface, the Triforce piece would be the same color as refined gold, and radiate with a blinding yellow and white light. At this depth, the artifact looked green and the light it gave off was a pale blue.

Cautiously, Link scanned the area, turning himself 360 degrees in the water.

 _Well that's fishy,_ he said to himself. _No fish._

While it was unlikely, it was possible there was no vegetation in this area. No vegetation would mean no herbivore fish, which would mean no prey for the predators.

Skeptical, Link slowly finned toward the fragment. Even though the piece was the same size as a pumpkin, Link knew it would weigh almost twice as much as he did, with zero buoyancy. Fortunately, he had a lift balloon with him. Just below his air flask, he kept a smaller air flask. This one was attached to a very large but folded balloon made of the same material as the blue suit. The miniature flask would be attached to the Triforce fragment, then activated so that all of its pressurized air would release into the balloon. This would create a giant bubble that would carry the Triforce fragment to the surface. The first time he'd tested it out, Link marveled at the ingenuity of the men and women who invented these sorts of things.

Link was now so close to the fragment it was difficult to look directly at it. Squinting through the light, Link climbed over one of the boulders so he was straddling the fragment. He knew from experience that the artifact was warm to the touch but not warm enough to be felt through the blue suit. Link sheathed his dive knife and went to work attaching the spare flask and balloon to the artifact. He let the rhythmic noise of his breathing through the hose accompany him while he worked.

With practiced hands, Link had the contraption rigged in no time. He gave his handiwork one last look, then swam backwards to give the balloon room to expand. He spun the flask's valve then kicked away, turning while he did. He enjoyed watching the balloon expand.

With an audible gurgle, thousands of bubbles escaped from the little flask and were trapped by the balloon in their attempt to escape to the surface. In seconds, the balloon had expanded to half its size. Inside of a minute, the balloon was full and straining to pry the fragment from between the two boulders.

Link frowned as well as his breathing hose would let him. He drew his knife again and approached the Triforce fragment. At this depth, the balloon wouldn't move very fast, but still fast enough to snag Link if he wasn't careful. In the diving world, ascending too quickly was the second most dangerous thing a diver could do. The first most dangerous thing was obviously run out of air.

Link jammed his knife between the fragment and the boulder and tried to pry the two apart. He strained against the knife's handle and grunted into his breathing hose. He had no success. Frustrated and annoyed he moved to the other side to see if he had better luck. He jammed the knife into place and pushed against it as hard as he dared. Suddenly, the boulder shifted slightly.

"Are you serious!?" Link shouted into his hose.

The boulder had shifted the wrong way, almost rolling backwards so the Triforce piece was wedged even deeper between the two boulders. Link slammed the pommel of his knife into the boulder angrily.

"Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!"

The boulder shifted again.

Link instantly recognized his folly.

While the boulder shifted, what looked like a giant tongue, slid from within the side of the boulder and began sliding around its surface.

 _A giant clam!_ Link realized. _Probably both boulders are._

As the tongue made its way toward the top of the clam's shell, Link carefully glided backwards, keeping his movements as smooth as possible. The clam's tongue paused where Link had struck with his knife, then moved to the side where the Triforce fragment was stuck.

Tentatively, the tongue prodded the Triforce piece.

 _Don't you do it._

The tongue wrapped around the piece, holding it in place while the clam shifted around, stirring up the ocean floor in the process.

 _Don't you eat it._

In an instant, the light from the magical artifact vanished as the clam sucked it into its mouth.

 _Goddess dammit!_

It was pitch black. So absolutely dark that Link couldn't see his fingers when he tapped on his own goggles. Darkness, no matter how old and wise you are, is unnerving. The darkness that comes from being at the bottom of the ocean, breathing borrowed air, surrounded by giant carnivorous clams, is even more so. Link felt panic sneaking up on him from within his chest. His breathing became faster and the pressure of the water around him suddenly felt crushing.

He took more than a few panicked breaths, hardly able to stand the dry metallic air his life depended on. He forgot which way was up and which was down. He couldn't orient himself. He pushed his arms over his head to propel him downward, worried the ocean floor wasn't there to find him. Link feared he'd turned himself sideways as the light disappeared, and now moving in any direction would mean losing his way. He had failed! He had failed and he was going to die at the bottom of the ocean!

Something brushed against his right arm. Link flinched away, slashing out with his knife in the darkness. He felt his knife connect with something and slashed again. Only when he felt a slight vibration to his own hip did he realize what he was slashing at. Frantically, he reached behind him and grabbed his lifeline, the rope connecting him to the Red Lion. He felt his way down to his hip then back up where the rope should continue endlessly. But there was an end. The knife he sharpened with pride made sure of that.

 _Woe, that the Goddesses made a creature as stupid as me,_ Link thought as a strange wave of acceptance washed over him. He had just killed himself. Now, even if he ascended, he had no way to get back to the Red Lion. He would die in the open ocean of either exhaustion, dehydration, or hypothermia. Even if he could get the Triforce piece out of the clam, he would have no way to find the ship.

Then it occurred to him, the light! If he could get the Triforce fragment out and ascend with it, the Red Lion would see the light. That's how they always found the Triforce fragments they sent up with lift balloons anyway! The piece was visible even miles away if it was anywhere near the surface.

The realization felt like salvation and calmed Link. He was okay. He could survive this. With renewed confidence Link pushed the water above him until he descended to the ocean floor. Just like any other blind ocean floor search, he would walk in widening circles until he bumped into one of the two clams. He would bang on it until it opened. If he felt it open and didn't see light, then it was the wrong clam and he was going to have to swim away quick. But if the clam that swallowed the artifact opened its mouth, he was sure it would light up like a treasure chest full of gold.

Heel to fin, Link walked in widening circles. With nothing better to do he counted his steps while he moved. In a position like this, it did him no good to look around for monsters so he just stared straight ahead into the darkness of nautical depths. He was at 74 when he bumped into a large boulder shaped object. He stepped closer and felt around with his palm to ensure he was at the boulder and not pounding away at a random piece of coral. The shape felt right, he figured.

Link took a deep breath then slammed the pommel of his knife into the object three times. After the third time he kicked straight backward, doing his best to maintain his orientation. He kept his knife close to his body. If the clam without light did reach for him, he would only get one chance to lash out and swim away. He held his breath and counted to 30. He imagined the tongue slipping out, feeling around its surface, then slipping back into its shell. 30 seconds should be long enough.

Just to be safe, Link counted 30 more seconds before approaching again. He found the object where he expected to, and put his right palm on it, with this knife in his left hand. When the light cut out, the two clams were still within arm's reach of each other. If he walked the circumference of this one with his arms spread out, he should be able to find the second one.

He found the other one just as he'd hoped. Now, it didn't matter if the previous object was a clam or a clam-shaped boulder. This one was for sure a giant Triforce eating clam. Link slammed his knife into the clam's shell as hard as he could. Instead of scooting backwards, he swam upward to meet the Triforce piece as it ascended. For a moment, nothing happened, and Link worried he'd been so disoriented he'd drifted over to two random rocks instead of the clams. But just then a blinding light appeared in front of him, revealing the insides of the clam and the ocean floor.

The Goddesses had finally shown Link some pity. The balloon was still attached to the Triforce piece and instantly hoisted it out of the clam's mouth. The tongue tried to dart forward and reclaim its prize but Link was ready. He dashed forward and slashed at the tongue, intercepting it before it stole his prize. The tongue shot back into the clam's shell wounded and angry. Pleased with himself, Link grabbed onto the Triforce piece and let it carry him a few feet to safety.

Once he was sure they'd cleared the ocean floor, he let go. The lift balloon would accelerate as the pressure became less and less. If Link held on to it, the air bubbles in his own lungs and blood would expand, killing him in an exceptionally painful way. He would trail behind it, rising at the same pace as the bubbles he blew with his nose.

The ascent was slow and mostly boring. A few fish larger than Link followed the ascending piece for a while but eventually lost interest. One creature actually tried to swallow the thing whole but the lift balloon was too buoyant and carried the fish with it. Distraught, the gilled would-be thief let go and sought its prey elsewhere. Link kept his knife close in case it chose the strange "blue fish" following the light, but the sea life seemed to care very little for him.

As usual with night dives, the surface surprised Link. Since the lift balloon left the Triforce piece hanging almost ten feet below the surface's edge, Link almost cracked his head on it. Pleased that the hard part of his dive was over, Link kicked past the object and breached the surface. The sea state had calmed a little but the sky was still dark. That was for the best though, Link figured. The water around him was glowing as bright as a star. The Red Lion would have no problem finding him.

Link turned about in the water, using the crest of each wave to get a good look at his surroundings. With delight, he saw that the Red Lion was surprisingly close. And, she was headed directly for him. Link reached back and shut off the valve to his breathing hose and pulled it out of his mouth. He cupped his hands around his mouth and hollered indiscernible excited noises. The Red Lion crept closer, angling its bow so it wouldn't run Link or the balloon over. A long boat dropped from the side. It was probably Yuuto and Lieutenant Kilbert, maybe even the Captain. This was their last mission, after all. With this fragment, they had successfully recovered all of the submerged Triforce fragments. The Queen would throw them the biggest feast the kingdom had ever seen.

The longboat was very close so Link decided to save them a few strokes by swimming closer.

"You will not believe what I found this time," Link said as he reached the side of the boat. He looked and reached up, waiting for Yuuto to grab his hands and pull him into the boat while Lieutenant braced against the far side to keep them from capsizing.

An ugly unfamiliar face peered down at Link.

"You're not a Zora."

Link pushed off the boat and plunged himself beneath the water's surface. He knew every member aboard the Red Lion and he had no idea who was in that longboat. He had no intention of finding out either. He kicked with his fins and started to work for his breathing hose when pain exploded in his leg.

In shock he realized there was a barbed harpoon sticking through the outside of his thigh. In a sickening moment he felt the sudden pull as whoever speared him began to hoist him back to the longboat. The pain was too much. He exhaled into the water and shoved his hose into his mouth. He tried to breath but realized he hadn't turned the valve to his air flask.

Frantically he tried to turn the valve.

Between the excruciating pain in his leg and the failed attempt at breathing, Link couldn't get the valve in time.

Involuntarily his mouth opened and his lungs demanded oxygen.

Instead of air, they filled themselves with sea water.


	2. Chapter 2

"You're not here because I need you," Chief Daiba barked. "And you're not here because your Queen or your country need you!"

Link and the other recruits were lined up, standing at attention, while their instructor marched up and down the line. From what Link understood, this part of the training was more of a filter than instruction. Being a diver in the Royal Navy was a prestigious position, coveted by sailors across the fleet. Divers were paid more, wore different uniforms, and carried themselves with the pride only elite forces carry. There were fifty-two recruits this year, including Link. According to Chief Daiba, less than 10 would graduate.

"You're here because the ocean is your mistress, and you want to get hard and wet inside her!"

Chief Daiba said it with the same straightforwardness he said everything else, but the class found the last part exceedingly humorous. Boys on both sides of Link forget their military bearing and allowed themselves to laugh. Link managed to limit himself to a grin, but someone down the line whooped and hollered jovially.

"Shut up!" Chief Daiba yelled, turning to glare at the sailor recruits.

Everyone straightened immediately, some clearing their throats to help neutralize their faces. Daiba stepped closer to the line, by appearance he was furious these kids had the audacity to laugh at his joke. He zeroed in on a random recruit three bodies to Link's right. Through his peripherals, Link could see the boy squirm uncomfortably under the Chief's gaze.

"What's your name, wag?" Daiba asked.

"B-b-b-bartholo-o-omew," the boy stuttered and squeaked.

"B-b-b-bartholomew?" Daiba asked, mocking the boy's nervousness. "What, did your mother have a seizure when she wrote your birth certificate? Or was she too stupid to spell Bartholomew with only one 'B'?"

Bartholomew opened his mouth to answer but Chief Daiba cut him off. "Shut up. I'm bored with you already."

Bartholomew sighed quietly in relief while Daiba went back to pacing in front of the recruits. He stopped again, this time in front of Link. Link couldn't miss the smell of last night's liquor on the man's breath.

"What's your name?" he asked, eyeing Link suspiciously.

While some of the recruits were young skinny lads from small fishing villages or the streets of Castle Town, most were hard-bodied and strong. None were quite as burly as Chief Daiba, but what Link lacked in girth, he made up for in height. Standing at attention and staring straight ahead, his gaze passed right over Daiba's balding head.

"Link, Chief," Link stated sharply and appropriately.

He could feel Daiba's dark eyes studying him up and down. Link chanced a glance at the man, wondering what Daiba saw.

When Link imagined a brawling, tough, weathered sailor, he inadvertently imagined Daiba. The man was Hyrulian, born and raised, and had spent the entirety of his adult life in the Royal Navy. His round face was covered in wrinkles and crow's feet and his nose was short and crooked. He had a scar that went from the bottom of his lip to his collarbone, pink against his otherwise tan skin. Short grey and black hair sprouted everywhere on the man except the very top of his head. His chest was barreled, his shoulders large, and his knuckles were hard and cracked. Link looked forward to serving alongside him some day.

"You're the cavalry kid, aren't you?" Daiba asked when his gaze shifted back to looking up at Link. Link's own eyes had returned straight ahead and over Daiba.

"Former Light Cavalry with the Twilight Squadron, Chief," Link answered evenly.

Daiba hummed approvingly. "That's special reconnaissance, right? Why'd you switch to the Navy?"

"The war is over, Chief. I'm here to stay busy." Link had rehearsed the answer in his head a dozen times before signing up. While it wasn't exactly the truth, he knew it would make him sound motivated.

"Good answer," Daiba said with a grunt. He turned and went back to prowling the ranks for weak looking recruits.

After he'd finished intimidating a handful of other recruits, Daiba returned to his position in front of everyone.

"Today's supposed to be our first day of training. That being said, I don't think any of you have earned the right to step into my water," Daiba said with his hands on his hips.

Their class was lined up about 200 meters away from Lake Hylia's edge. The Royal Navy's presence here was nonexistent, aside from the Diver school. Hyrule's treaty with the Freshwater Zora made special allowances for divers.

"So instead, you're each going to grab two buckets," he pointed toward a pile of buckets, hoses, and random knick-knacks, "Run down to the lake, fill your buckets, and carry them back to me." He held up a cautionary finger and parted his lips in a dangerous smile. "And I swear on my mother, if you get up here and your bucket isn't at least half full, you'll do the next exercise carrying buckets of my piss."

A recruit raised their hand. Daiba indicated for them to ask their question.

"What if we come back and the bucket is half empty instead?"

Daiba furrowed his brow, momentarily confused by the question. Someone down the line snickered, while Link tried to subtly turn his head and find the smartass.

When Daiba caught the joke, he scowled and shook his finger. "You get to carry three buckets, jester."

"Yes, Chief," the class clown replied as if the punishment were inconsequential.

Daiba paused to give everyone in the class a once over, then held his hands to the side. "What are you all waiting for? MOVE!"

In a frenzy everyone separated from the line and ran to the pile of buckets. Link took off at a sprint and managed to reach the pile second. Instantly he realized something was amiss. There were certainly enough buckets for everyone, but not all of the buckets were actually buckets. There were maybe three dozen wooden buckets with thin iron handles and another dozen without. Some of the buckets weren't made of wood though. There were more than a dozen bucket-shaped cauldrons made of heavy cast-iron, some made of steel, and even one made of carved stone. All of them had the potential to hold 25 pounds of water.

Racing to the pile and choosing your bucket quickly was part of the exercise, Link realized. He grabbed two wooden buckets with handles and sprinted toward the water as the recruits behind him reached the pile. While running he glanced over to the side and saw that some kids hadn't rushed to the pile, and were lackadaisically waiting their turn to pick a bucket.

 _They're going to regret that,_ Link thought.

Link made it to the lake's edge at about the same time as two other people. He wasted no time in filling his buckets with the cold fresh water.

"You think he'll really pee in someone's bucket?" one of the other recruits asked. He was in good shape and only slightly out of breath.

"I don't plan to find out," the other one replied.

Once his buckets were filled, Link started his trek up the beach, back toward Chief Daiba. There was a slight incline the entire way, and Link had to flex his shoulders to keep the buckets from bouncing off his legs and spilling, but the exercise wasn't terrible. He didn't doubt that Daiba would pee in someone's bucket. His indoctrination into the Light Cavalry Unit had included training that bordered on torture. One time he'd literally been forced to eat horse shit. He wouldn't be surprised if Daiba's diver course included similar discomforts.

When Link reached Chief Daiba, there was a thin layer of sweat on his forehead and the beginnings of a blister on his hands. With a raised eyebrow Daiba peeked into Link's buckets.

"Good," he said with a nod of approval. "Leave one here with me and get back in line with the other one."

"Yes, Chief." Link did as he was instructed, and used it as an opportunity to catch his breath.

He and four other recruits were waiting in line while the other 48 made their way to or from the lake. It was clear the ones stuck with the cauldrons were struggling with the weight. Even from a distance Link could see far too much water splashing out, as the cast-iron bucket bounced against a recruit's legs. The recruits who had buckets without handles had to carry them over their shoulders, and were stuck going a much slower pace than the others so as to avoid spilling.

"DON'T DROP MY BUCKETS!" Daiba screamed as a recruit did just that.

Frantically the boy picked his buckets back up and ran back down to the lake to refill them.

Link had little trouble identifying the class clown. The boy, an average height but well-built teenager with blonde hair and young facial features, had been quick enough to grab three wooden buckets with handles. He carried one in each hand, and one in his teeth. Link wondered how he was able to bear so much weight with his teeth holding the metal of the bucket's handle.

Just before the clown reached Daiba, he paused. Awkwardly he maneuvered the bucket in his left hand so he was grabbing it by the side. Carefully, he poured some of the water into the bucket in his mouth. Then he did the same thing with the bucket in his right hand. He grimaced at the strain on his teeth, but hobbled over to Daiba with all three buckets in tow.

Link wasn't sure if Daiba was amused or angry when he inspected all three buckets. Two were definitely half full, and the last one must have been at most half empty. Daiba told the kid to leave two there and fall in line with one.

Jester, as Link decided to refer to him, winked at the recruits already in line then fell in with them.

Link didn't like him. If someone had pulled that same stunt with Captain Heydron, he would have tied them to his horse and told them to "keep up" while he sprinted away on his charger. Link didn't consider himself overly serious, but he didn't make light of military procedure either.

The moment everyone was waiting for finally arrived when one of the recruits carrying a cast-iron bucket reported to Daiba with too little water. With a malicious grin on his face, Daiba lowered his trousers and urinated into the bucket in plain view of the entire class.

"That should put you at half-full," he said with a snort, fixing his breeches.

The recruit, an average height and average built brunette, blushed embarrassedly and moved to get away from Daiba. He was exceptionally careful while carrying the cauldron and didn't spill a drop. When a couple others showed up with their buckets too empty, Daiba simply sent them back to the lake again for more. He made a crack about needing to hydrate better next time but nobody dared to laugh.

When everyone had finally lined up with their bucket, Daiba addressed them.

"Alright you stinky wags, here's what's going to happen. You are going to hold your buckets directly over your heads, arms fully extended." He demonstrated by lifting one of the wooden buckets he'd collected directly over his own head. "You are going to keep it there until I say 'down'. When I say 'down', you are going to simultaneously squat, and bring the bucket to your chest." Again he demonstrated by bringing the bucket to his chest and squatting so that it almost looked like he was riding an invisible horse. "As soon as you reach the 'down' position, you will automatically stand back up and raise the bucket over your head, arms fully extended." He demonstrated again.

"Any questions?" he asked, setting his own bucket down.

Jester raised his hand. "How many are we doing, Chief?"

"As many as it takes," Daiba answered.

"For what?"

"For me to get tired of watching you lot." Chief turned back to the class. "If I check your bucket at any point and see that you're less than half full because you're a clutz who spills my precious water, I'll give you a second bucket. Am I clear?"

"Yes, Chief!" the class responded in unison.

Chief Daiba nodded. "Good. Raise your buckets up."

Link grabbed the sides of his bucket and carefully hoisted it over his head with the rest of the class.

"Down," Daiba commanded.

Link brought the bucket to his chest and squatted, then immediately stood back up and pressed the bucket over his head.

"Down."

Link carried out the motion again.

"Down."

Link moved again.

"Farore's almighty tits!" Daiba swore suddenly. "Bartholomew are you giving up on me already? We've only done three!"

"It's not fair, Chief," Bartholomew whimpered. "My bucket is heavier than everyone else's."

Link, with his own bucket still held over his head, glanced over to see which bucket Bartholomew was struggling with. Probably the last one to the pile, the thin recruit was struggling to keep the stone bucket over his head.

"You think life is fair?" Chief asked. "You think the bottom of the ocean gives a damn about fairness? Hell no! You can do everything right and still lose. And in this case," Chief pointed at the stone bucket, "You didn't even do everything right. Now get that bucket over your head or get THE HELL OUT OF MY CLASS!"

With a squeak and a grunt, Bartholomew was able to get the bucket up and over his head, arms shaking terribly.

"Down."

"Down."

Bartholomew dropped his bucket. Without saying a word, Chief walked over to him and kicked him square in the chest, sending the kid flying backwards.

"Your chances of being a diver vanished when that bucket hit the ground. Go report to Lady Mona and get out of my sight."

Link couldn't see Bartholomew, but he heard him sniffling as he picked himself up. Daiba returned to his position in front of the class and looked around.

"Down," he said after meeting eyes with everyone.

"Down."

"Down."

Link knew he was in good shape, and he'd been quick enough to grab one of the lightest buckets, but as Chief Daiba said 'down' for the fiftieth then sixtieth time, he was beginning to feel a burn in his shoulders and legs. The recruits who weren't as strong as he was, or the ones who had been forced to grab cast-iron buckets, were really struggling. Sometimes they couldn't return the buckets over their head before Chief said 'down' again. As long as they didn't drop the bucket on the ground, Chief would let them get away with it once or twice. If they hadn't pressed it over their head by his third command though, he was in their faces and screaming.

"Down."

"Down."

"Down."

 _He'll stop at one hundred, I'm sure of it,_ Link said to himself. His shoulders burned fiercely and his legs were beginning to ache. He was determined to make every squat and press in time, without spilling a drop, but he wasn't sure how much longer he could go.

"Down."

"Down."

"Down."

 _Dammit! He's not stopping at one hundred._

Sometimes Chief chanted the word, and sometimes he sang it in his best off-key sailor voice. The worst moments were when he didn't say 'down' at all, and just let them stand there with the buckets over their heads for almost a minute.

"Down."

"Down."

"Down."

Links arms were beginning to shake. He shifted the bucket in his grip and cringed when he accidentally spilled some water. Daiba saw the splash and cantered over before his next command of 'down'. When Link went into his squat, they both peered into the bucket in anticipation. To Link's relief, he'd started with his bucket almost entirely full. He was well above half full.

Daiba gave a 'hrmmm' then went back to chanting his command. The interruption made Link lose count of their exercise but he guessed they were somewhere around 130 squats and bucket presses.

"Down."

"Down."

"Down. Aha! We have a winner!" Delighted, Chief went over to the buckets the recruits had delivered him and picked up two full ones with handles. He carried them over to a recruit five bodies to Link's left and set them on the ground.

"Since you want to spill the water out of your bucket, I've decided to let you have two of mine," Daiba said with a sneer. He snatched the practically empty bucket from the recruit's hands and indicated for him to grab the other two. "Use the handles to hold them over your head then hold them at your shoulders when you squat. Down!"

The kid grunted as he brought both buckets over his head.

"Down."

"Down."

"Down."

As his arms shook more and more violently, and his squat became less and less smooth, Link spilled more water from his bucket. Fearfully he checked its level during each squat and figured it was safe, but wondered how much longer he could keep up.

"Down."

"Down."

"Dow-"

Another bucket crashed to the floor. Turning red from rage, Chief hurled an empty bucket at the recruit.

"GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!"

Link couldn't see him but he heard the kid turn and run.

Daiba shook his head. "Now where were we? Oh right! Down!"

xXx

* * *

xXx

Link was moving. That was the first thing he was aware of. That, and an incredible pain in his right leg.

 _I'm not dead,_ Link thought, eyes still closed and laying perfectly still. _Which means somebody resuscitated me._ He tried to ignore the pain in his leg and instead worked on focusing on his surroundings. He didn't need to remind himself that he was special reconnaissance before he was in the Royal Navy. Being aware of your surroundings was an essential skill.

Link determined he was in the hull of a ship. The movement he'd felt was the rocking of ship on the open ocean. He also discovered that his hands were bound behind his back, and that he was laying down on the floor. Besides the creaking of the ship's wooden frame and hull, there was the distinct sound of someone snoring nearby.

Careful to keep his face relaxed, Link cracked his eyes open. He found himself lying face-down in a pile of haphazardly piled straw. With nobody in sight, Link dared to open his eyes wider. He was in the belly of a ship, in the same place they kept their cargo. Whichever ship it was, he could tell right away he wasn't aboard the Red Lion.

Slowly, Link turned his head and shifted, careful to avoid stressing his right leg, and looked for the snorer. A man Link had never seen before was leaning back in a chair, head resting on the bulkhead, snoring happily. Judging by the chair and the fact the man wore a cutlass on his waist, Link assumed this was his sentry.

Without taking his eyes off the stranger, Link turned over so that he was sitting on his butt. Silently and with great effort, Link brought his hands under his butt and legs. He struggled temporarily to get his bound hands around his injured leg, but eventually had them readily in front of him. To his delight, the knot was tied loose and poorly. He made quick work of it with his teeth and had himself freed in no time.

Eyes still glued to his sentry, Link scooted over to a nearby post and used it to pull himself to his feet, timing his climb with the roll of the ship. Once upright, he tested some weight on his right leg. He hissed quietly at the pain, but found that he would be able to stand. Intrigued, he noticed that his leg had been bandaged underneath his pants.

 _Pants?_ He wondered. He hadn't been wearing pants underneath his blue suit.

Pushing his questions aside for later, Link focused on his first problem, the sentry.

 _I could kill him,_ Link thought. It bothered him a little how quickly that became his first option. He'd killed while he was part of the Light Cavalry Unit. He'd killed more than he cared to recall. Even with the cutlass at his side, Link had no doubt he could strangle and murder the man with nothing but the rope that had bound his hands.

If he did, he could arm himself with that cutlass and wouldn't have to worry about someone sneaking up behind him while he continued to explore this ship he was on.

On the other hand, whoever his captives were, they'd taken the time to resuscitate him, bandage him, and change his clothes. Murdering one of their crew members might not be the best way to show them his appreciation.

Link leaned closer to inspect the sleeping man, wondering if it was the same man who'd harpooned him. This man was ugly too, but a different kind of ugly. Link pulled back and scrunched his nose. The man stank too. His clothes were grimy and stained, and there was a visible layer of filth covering his skin. Whoever he was, he wasn't a sailor in the Royal Navy.

 _I'll just sneak past him,_ Link finally decided.

With a graceless but silent hobble, Link made his way around the snoring man toward the unbarred portal beside him. With one last glance to ensure the man was lost in his dreams, Link pushed the door open and crept through. He bolted the door behind him and turned to examine the room he'd just entered. A pair of giant blue eyes stared back at him fearfully.

Link immediately brought his finger to his lips and hushed the little girl he'd stumbled upon.

"Shhhh, it's okay," he pleaded as well as said. "It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you. Shhhh."

The girl, a young blonde girl with sun-kissed skin, giant blue eyes, and wearing a long sleeve grey cotton blouse and pants, looked from Link, to the door, and back to Link.

"Did you kill Niko?" she asked in a mousey voice.

Link glanced back at the door he'd just exited.

"No," Link answered, turning back to the girl. "When I woke up he was snoring, so I left without waking him up."

The little girl seemed relieved by that and Link silently thanked the Goddesses he'd decided not to kill the man.

"Where am I?" Link asked, crouching on his good leg to get eye-level with the girl.

The girl smiled mischievously.

"You're aboard the Wind Waker, the famous pirate ship!" Her eyes lit up while she said it.

Link felt dread welling up inside him. He wondered if he shouldn't turn back and get the saber from Niko. If this was a pirate ship, he was in serious trouble.

"The Wind Waker?" Link asked absentmindedly. He needed to stall this girl so he could figure out what to do with her. "Never heard of it. Who is the captain?"

The girl wiggled her but in excitement. "Captain Tetra!" she said. "The most fearsome pirate in all the seas!"

"Shhhhh," Link hissed. "And where is he now?"

The girl, innocent to her core, furrowed her brow to think. "Well, it's almost noon so the captain is probably in the Captain's Quarters eating lunch."

Link nodded his head. "Can you get me there?" Link asked. "I'd like to meet the Captain before I meet any of the crew members."

The girl narrowed her eyes, suddenly not trusting the man she was talking to. "Why don't you want to meet the crew?"

"Cause pirates like to rough-house right? As you can see, I'm in no condition for rough-housing," Link hoped this girl was as stupid as she was innocent. He held his breath for five seconds while the girl considered his answer.

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea," she finally chirped. "Come on, I know a secret way."

Partially crouched over, the girl moved past Link and moved to a different door than the one Link had left. He considered going back for the cutlass one more time but the girl turned back and gestured for him to hurry up. He'd have to find a weapon in the Captain's Quarters.

The Wind Waker was surprisingly small. The little girl and Link passed through only one more compartment before they were one the lower deck. From there, they scurried along the walls to a smaller secluded staircase. The intentionally secluded staircase let to an intentionally hidden door. Once they arrived at the door, the girl turned to Link.

"I can't go in with you," she said matter-of-factly.

"Oh," Link said, surprised that fortune would smile on him again. He could live with committing necessary violence, but he'd rather not do it in front of a little girl. "That's fine. Is it through the doors?"

The girl nodded then maneuvered around Link. At such close proximity, he got the feeling that she was a little older than he'd initially assumed.

"Thank you," he said, offering his most genuine smile.

The girl gave him a big, toothy smile, revealing straight white teeth, before zipping away around the corner.

Link turned back to the door and took a deep breath. It had been quite some time since he'd been in a real fight. Besides a couple petty fist fights during his time at Lake Hylia, he hadn't fought for his life since the Twilight Squadron. And that was exactly what he was about to do. If he could catch the Captain unawares and overpower him, he might be able to negotiate his way off this ship and with his blue suit.

He took one more deep breath, reached into that part of himself that was capable of murder, then crept through the door. He entered a small in-between space, probably designed for the Captain to ambush any pursuers if he had to flee from his quarters.

Silent as a shadow, Link went to the only door. This had to lead to the Captain's Quarters, he reasoned. He cursed himself once more for not taking Niko's cutlass, then crept in.

The Captain's Quarters was fabulously decorated. Velvets and silks were draped over mahogany and deku oak chests, dressers, and furniture. Just to the right of where Link entered there was a giant mirror with scarves and robes hanging on the sides of it. Frankly, Link found the style very effeminate.

His eyes passed over the useless decorations and searched for any sign of the Captain and a suitable weapon. The Captain was missing, but there was an unattended short sword sitting on an ottoman. Link sprinted for the weapon.

"Pick it up," said a voice as cold as ice.

Link froze, a full three strides away from the weapon.

"I dare you," the voice taunted.

Slowly, his palms out innocently, Link turned to the speaker who had somehow materialized in front of the main entrance door. Link reared his head back in surprise. The innocent little girl who'd led him to the secret door, was standing there with a saber pointed at his chest. She'd ditched the grey long sleeves blouse and was wearing a rich blue silk shirt with a red sash around her waist. She didn't look innocent or young anymore, she looked powerful. Her eyes were icy blue and dangerous, and her smile was arrogant. She held the sword lightly in her hand, as if it were an extension of herself.

"It wouldn't do me any good anyway," Link said, slowly straightening his posture and bringing his hands up and level with his ears. "I'm a diver, not fighter. I've no talent with a sword."

"Shame," she said with a genuine look of disappointment. "It would have been nice to get some sparring in before I threw you overboard."

Link glanced down at his leg, then back at the girl. "I don't think your Captain would approve of that."

She arched an eyebrow. "Why not?"

"He took the time to resuscitate me and patch me up. I can't imagine he did all that just to throw me overboard."

The girl smirked and started walking around Link, keeping her saber pointed at him all the while. She made her way to the ottoman and picked up the short sword, stowing it in her sash, then continued circling to the giant desk where the Captain would sit.

"Some astute observations," she said, walking behind the desk. "But you're wrong about one thing."

"Which little girls I choose to trust?" Link asked sarcastically.

The girl chuckled. "Two things then." She plopped herself down in the velvet upholstered chair behind the Captain's desk. "Captain Tetra isn't a he. He's a she."

* * *

 **Author's Note: We all knew 'he' was a 'she' and that 'she' wasn't a random little girl on the ship. Had to get it out of the way now.**

 **Link's training has some truth to it. Hope you enjoy.**


End file.
